Amadeus IT Group S.A maintained its positive growth trend in the first six months of 2019, thanks to the solid operating performances of its Distribution and IT Solutions businesses, the consolidation of TravelClick (since October 4, 2018) and a positive foreign exchange impact. These drove double-digit growth in revenue and EBITDA, while adjusted profit increased 9.9% to €666.7 million, compared to the same period of 2018.
First half highlights (six months ended June 30, 2019)
- Revenue increased 14.4%, to €2,833.6 million
- EBITDA expanded 10.7%, to €1,193.4 million
- In the Distribution segment, travel agency air bookings grew 0.9% to 307.8 million
- In IT Solutions, Passengers Boarded increased 6.6% to 947.0 million
Distribution
Revenue in this segment grew 4.7% to €1,637.0 million.
The travel agency air booking industry declined 1.4% in the second quarter of the year, due to fewer working days compared to the same period of 2018 (partly caused by Easter timing effect) and the bankruptcy of a large Indian GDS carrier.
North America was the fastest growing region. In turn, Western Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East-Africa showed a contraction, impacted by strikes, macroeconomic developments and geopolitical events (particularly affecting markets such as Germany, United Kingdom, Scandinavia and Australia).
As in the first quarter, Amadeus continued to grow despite the less benign environment. Bookings in the first half of the year outperformed the industry, supported by continued market share expansion across all regions except Asia Pacific. North America was our fastest growing region in the period, with a 14.0% increase, while Western Europe continued its positive growth trend, on the back of market share gains.
Performance in Asia Pacific and Middle East-Africa, impacted by the industry’s booking decline, showed a contraction. Amadeus’ Asia Pacific bookings were also affected by the cancellation by an Indian GDS carrier of our distribution agreement at the end of 2018, and by the liquidation of an Indian GDS carrier in April 2019.
IT Solutions
Revenue grew 31.0% in the first half of the year, to €1,196.6 million, supported by the positive operating performance of Airline IT and our new businesses.
IT Solutions– Airline IT
This segment continued delivering healthy growth, on the back of higher passenger boarded volumes. Passengers boarded grew 6.6% during the quarter, to 947.0 million, supported by 2018 implementations (including S7 Airlines, Maldivian Airlines, Cyprus Airways and Aeromar) and the implementations to date in 2019 (including Philippine Airlines and Flybe).
Organic growth of 6.6% also contributed to this passenger boarded increase. All these factors mitigated the negative impact of the de-migration of LATAM Airlines Brazil from our platform during the second quarter of 2018, the cessation of operations of Germania and bmi Regional (both in February 2019) and the suspension of operations of Avianca Brasil and Avianca Argentina in May 2019 and June 2019, respectively.
IT Solutions – New Businesses
Our new businesses grew strongly during the first half of the year, boosted by the TravelClick consolidation and double-digit revenue growth in our new businesses (excluding TravelClick).
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